West Haven, Conn., May 14, 2007 - Leaders in finance, literacy and public service will be awarded honorary doctoral degrees during the University of New Haven's (UNH) spring commencement exercises at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 26, 2007, in Robert B. Dodds Stadium on the University of New Haven campus. In addition to the conferral of honorary degrees, 455 undergraduate and 384 graduate students will receive their degrees in various programs of study.
Serving as commencement speaker will be Joseph J. Grano, chairman and CEO of Centurion Holdings LLC. Grano will also receive an honorary Doctor of Business Administration. Receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters will be Roxanne J. Coady, author and founder of R.J. Julia Booksellers, in Madison, Conn., and State Representative James A. Amann.
Joseph J. Grano, Jr., is chairman and CEO of Centurion Holdings LLC, in New York. He joined PaineWebber in 1988 as president of retail sales and marketing, and became president in 1994. He was instrumental in helping to bring about the company's merger with UBS in 2000, when he was named president & CEO of UBS PaineWebber and the following year was named chairman & CEO. Prior to joining PaineWebber, Grano was with Merrill Lynch for 16 years, holding various senior management positions including director of national sales. He has served as chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), as a member of the NASD's Executive Committee and was selected by President Bush to be Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council as chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council under the U.S. Department of the Homeland Security. During the Vietnam War he served in the U.S. Army achieving the rank of captain in the U.S. Special Forces/Green Berets. He has been actively involved in a wide range of educational and philanthropic endeavors, including service as vice chairman of the Queens College Foundation Board of Trustees, and on the board of directors of the YMCA of Greater New York. His numerous awards include the Corporate Leadership Award from the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, the USO Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. He was named "Business Leader of the Year" by Georgetown University's School of Business in 2000.
Roxanne Coady founded R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, Conn., in 1991, creating a business that is recognized as a national leader among independent booksellers. Publisher's Weekly, selected R.J. Julia Booksellers as "Bookseller of the Year" in 1995 and the store continues to strive to be an exceptional model of best practices for independent booksellers. In 2006, Ms. Coady co-edited the book "The Book That Changed My Life" and is featured regularly on National Public Radio. In 1996 she founded, and continues to chair, the Read to Grow Foundation, which in partnership with urban hospitals throughout Connecticut, provides books and literacy information to tens of thousands of children and families each year. Coady is a director for the NewAlliance Bank of New Haven, serving on the Audit and Trust Committees. She is also on the board of directors and executive committee of the Greater New Haven Convention & Tourism Bureau, and board member for the Kenyon Review, a publication for talented emerging writers. R.J. Julia Booksellers awards have included: Business New Haven "Small Business of the Year" and the New Haven Advocate Reader's Poll - First Place Independent Bookstore. Ms. Coady was chosen as a delegate for the White House Conference on Small Business, and the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame. Prior to her career as a bookseller, she was the national tax director and partner for BDO Seidman, New York.
James A. Amann is currently serving his second term as Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. Speaker Amann was first elected to the Legislature in 1990, representing the 118th Assembly District in Milford. He attended the University of New Haven studying criminal justice and received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Bridgeport. Previously he served as a member of the Milford Board of Aldermen. As a state legislator, he chaired the Insurance and Real Estate Committee (1993 -1998) and he has also served as deputy house majority whip and house majority leader. Speaker Amann authored Connecticut's Megan's Law, the state's sex offender registry which has become a national law enforcement and public awareness model. He has spearheaded legislation that includes improving breast cancer and prostate cancer coverage and reforming managed care, and has been a leader in the state's effort to provide Connecticut's needy elderly and children with prescription drug coverage under the ConnPACE and HUSKY programs. In 2005, Speaker Amann created Healthy Kids Connecticut, with the mission of providing healthcare access for all of Connecticut's youth. Among his numerous honors are awards from the Nutmeg Games and the Drug-Free America Association. Professionally, he oversees chapter development and community awareness for the Greater Connecticut Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
A leader in experiential learning, the University of New Haven provides its students with a unique combination of solid liberal arts and real-world, hands-on professional training. A private University founded in 1920, UNH has a full-time undergraduate enrollment of more than 2,400 students-with 70 percent residing on its 80-acre main campus-and a graduate school enrollment that exceeds 1,700. The University offers more than 80 undergraduate degrees and more than 25 graduate degrees through its four colleges, in fields such as sports management, nutrition and dietetics, forensic science, music and sound recording, engineering, computer science, fire science and criminal justice. University of New Haven students study abroad through a variety of distinctive programs.
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